ENTERTAINMENTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 296, 12 November 1934, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

PALACE THEATRE. THE BROKEN MELODY.” . This film deserves special is undoubtedly ono of *1 ° lont i°J l as . pictures of the year. J o ] ln r. outsta uding it will bo remembered •- wh ft Dandy of the “Rose M lri ,S Roglnald brings to tho screen a delightful'^ pany * vivid personality and crcat VOICC >a ity. His co-star, Merle Oberon, who rose to great heights 'in “The Private T-f r Henry VIII.”, is a TasmanSan her, debut in pictures is of rcccift ycaw H.,, 13 "° exaggeration to report that she will climb to great heights as her frcsh° ness and charm, a most natural style and excellent singing voice endow her riel lv for . screen honours The story, the act g and the singing all contribute very large ? to tho success that “The Broken Melodv ” now screening at the Palace Theatre, really is. It tolls the story of a young composer who becomes infatuated with a famous opera star. Ho marries her and in doing so loses the friendship of a ’noble young woman. The marriage i s a failure and later, when tho couple have started to drift apart, the husband finds liis wife with a former lover, whom in a fit of rage he kills. He is sentenced to the dread Devil’s Island, from which ho eventually escapes ■What happens after that loads up to a climax that raises the film to groat height? The acting of all the principals is of a high order. John Garrick is the husband, Margot Grahame the wife, and Merle Oberon tho young woman whose love for the young composer is his beacon through life. Mr Garrick is heard in the beautiful song, “The Broken Melody,” which is an outstanding feature of the show'. In the supporting bill there is a most interesting film, “Victoria—loo Years of Progress,” showing many views of Melbourne. Of particular interest is the film of Scott and Black’s arrival in Melbourne—a firstclass record of the finish of the greatest air race the world has ever known. Highlights of the Duke’s tour and the march of 1000 pipers all contribute to a programme of real merit.

REGENT THEATRE

“RIPTIDE.”

Norma Shearer scores another triumph in “Riptide,” now at the Regent Theatre. Norma is more glamorous and glittering than ever. As a result of the hideousness of the costumes sent to each for the purpose of attending a fancy dress ball, she meets Lord Rexford. They marry and ■ live happily enough until into her life, comes again Tommy, a pleasure-loving individual of the days she has sought to leave behind. His appearance on the scene in the absence of her husband abroad and while she is on a visit to the Continent with her husband’s gay old aunt is sufficient to aw'aken in her emotions that have been suppressed. She finds renewed exhilaration in freedom of thought and action, but ultimately she is caught in a compromising situation. Her husband’s faith in her is shaken, but eventually he is prepared to forgive and forget. Then further complications develop, which incidentally provide material of which full use is taken for some fine dramatic acting. Norma Shearer has a role which enables her to be sparkjingly vivacious and bright, and also to display her dramatic ability. As Lord Rexford, Herbert Marshall has a part well suited to him, and so, too, has Robert Montgomery, the effervescent cheerful Tommy. Others in the cast "include Mrs Patrick Campbell, who does some fine work as the gay old Aunt Hetty; Skeets Gallagher, Ralph Forbes and Lilyan Tashman. The first part of the programme comprises a Metrotone newsreel, featuring scenes of the fire on the Morro Castle off the coast of New Jersey, a Fitzpatrick travelogue, “Scotland the Bonnie,” and “Dartmouth Days,” which provides some splendid shots of thrilling ski-ing by students of Dartmouth College, America. MADAME ELSA STRALIA. A rare musical treat is offered patrons of the Regent Theatre to-night and on Tuesday evening. This is the appearance of Madam Elsa Stralia, famous Australian soprano. Her pieces will include: L Amour Toujours,” “Danny Boy,” and “Softly Awakes My Heart.”

STATE THEATRE. “TURKEY TIME.” There are heaps of fun in “Turkey Time,” another of Ben Travers’s clever diversions, which has been produced by Gaumont-British pictures and which opened its Palmerston North season at tho State Theatre on Saturday. Nothing could bo better than to see Tom Walls and Ralph Lynn together again, romping irresponsibly through this gay story of how they played good Samaritans to a pretty pierette stranded in a seaside town at Christmas time, aided and abetted by Mary Brough of ample proportions and Robertson Hare, henpecked as usual and oh! how innocent of the wiles of the wily ones. Tho plcpt is brilliantly amplified by the clever, original work of tho star comedians which constitutes a laugh riot from start to finish. Tom Walls is superb. Whether blarneying his tortuous way out of compromising circumstances, whether scragging an unpleasant piece of work who pursues the pretty little lady over whose misfortunes the whole of these uproarious frolics arose, or whether demolishing a shop window, Tom’s elan is inspiring. Ralph Lynn, the screen’s most ingenious purveyor of gentlemanly nit-wit studies is also delicious. One of his most joyous scenes is that in which, after admonishing, in the Best Lynnsian style, two urchins who were taking a surreptitious peep at a pierrot show, he does tho same thing himself and secs to _it too that he gets his share of the urchins’ lollies. Mrs Gather, in tho hands of Mary Brough, is a living example of that grasping, selfrighteous, irascible type of landlady whose normal reactions are very familiar to those of us who have been called upon to navigate the grey seas of boarding-house life. Ail the more joy, then, to watch her in the throes of temptation induced by the spirit of Christmas, and ministered to so effectively by the bottled spirit of Holland, that eventually she makes whoopee with a vigour that must be seen to be believed. Dorothy Hyson invests the character of the pretty pierette with much charm; and Norma Varden is probably the most vigorous and ingenious of all the browbeating screen wives whwom Mr Robertson Hare has tho misfortune to own. “Turkey Time” presents abundance of piquant situations flavoured with some exhilarating dialogue and, as is customary with Gaumont-British pictures, it is impressively framed, the settings including a realistic jetty, a village street and some tasteful interiors.

KOSY THEATRE.

“LAWYER MAN” AND “THE MIND READER.” “Lawyer Man,” starring William Powell and Joan Blondoll, is now being screened at the Ivosy Theatre with “The Mind Reader.” The story is filled with the quaint humour of a successful East. Side lawyer who just can’t resist the smiles of pretty ladies. How he is brought to his senses eventually through tho love of his wisecracking secretary touches on both humour and romance. Warren William, dynamic star of “The Dark Horse,” and “Match King,” now comes in “Mind Reader,” William ■ portraying a crystal-gazing fakir. The story throws an amusing ray. of light on the hokum behind the medicine and caravan shows with tho fortune-tellers, crystalgazers, barkers and shills. Tho theme -is unique and treats of a most unusual characterisation in the buoyant and bombastic Chandra the Great, fortune-teller par excellence, faker through and through, but withall a lovable rascal with dominating personality, particularly with women who arc strongly attracted by his roguish charm. Tho various roles are enacted by a cast of exceptional merit with William as Chandra and Constance Cummings as his wife.